


Doorways

by jovialien



Category: Torchwood
Genre: Alternate Universe, Children of Earth Spoilers, Gen, Post S2, Spoilers for Exit Wounds
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-08-18
Updated: 2013-06-16
Packaged: 2017-11-12 09:53:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,540
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/489569
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jovialien/pseuds/jovialien
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It was just an ordinary door but it shouldn't be there. What else was there behind it that shouldn't be there either?</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <i>**Updated to add sequel/second chapter**</i>
</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

It was tucked away in a corner of the archives, just a small room, nondescript and unlabelled. The boxes stacked in front of it were old office supplies, spare index cards and archive tape and cardboard files that he had only just got around to clearing out.    
  
Brushing his fingers over the uncovered doorframe, Ianto Jones frowned as he took in the strange wooden door. Its keyhole was large, old fashioned and more at home in some stately mansion that the Hub. He tried the handle but as he suspected, the door was locked. Pressing his ear to it, Ianto thought for a moment he could hear whispering on the other side, as though distant voices were echoing through a pipe somewhere.   
  
Which was no doubt exactly what it was. The Hubs acoustics could play tricks sometimes. It was probably nothing.   
  
Returning to the boxes, Ianto tried to ignore the door. But when he was done he did drag one heavy trunk back across the door.   
  
Just in case.   
  
***************************************   
  
“A door?” Jack frowned as he pulled off his boots, wincing at the weevil blood on the sides that just refused to come out. “Doesn't ring any bells. Course I haven't been down to that section for a while.”    
  
Ianto caught that slightly distant look that came over Jack's face as he drifted into memory, some old flame or incident making him smile for a moment. Ianto didn't get jealous of Jack's old flames; when they stayed in the past at least. He watched as Jack ran his fingers through his hair but carrying on, as though remembering longer locks.    
  
“Must've been maybe the early eighties last time I was in there.” Standing up, Jack unhooked his braces and started unbuttoning his shirt, wincing as he spotted the small tears along the side. “Can't say I remember any strange doors, but it's always been a bit of a dumping ground for old junk. Shouldn't be anything dangerous in there though.”    
  
Stripping off the shirt he tossed it to Ianto who caught it effortlessly, holding it up to the light and shaking his head slightly as he took in the tears and stains on it. Sometimes he wondered why he bothered patching up Jack's shirts at all, they never seemed to last any longer for his repairs. Folding it over his arm, he let a small smile play over his lips as he watched Jack continue stripping, pulling off the white t shirt and looking at the blood on it. This time even Jack didn't consider it worth saving and threw it straight into the bin instead.   
  
“I might have a key for it though, hang on.” Digging into his pockets, Jack pulled out the large ring of keys he carried with him and unhooked it from his belt. “There's a few on here I can't remember what they're for and a bunch I inherited along with this place, might be amongst those. Just promise me if you find the right one you tell us before going in, maybe get Tosh to scan it first.”    
  
Tossing the ring over to Ianto, Jack shrugged and leaned back against his desk, folding his arms across his bare chest and grinning. “Might be interesting to see what's in there, as long as it doesn't take too much time. Anyway, feel free to try out those keys.” Jack paused, his next sentence loaded with hidden meaning. “ _Any_  of them.”   
  
At Jack's tone and teasing raise of the eyebrows, Ianto looked at the ring more closely and laughed as he spotted the smallest key on the bunch, an almost tubular key with a rounded end that he recognised all too well. “I thought we lost this. At least that was your excuse for leaving me handcuffed to the bed for four hours.”   
  
“Hey, that was an accident.” Jack hurriedly added, holding his hands up in surrender. “But, now I've found the key again...”    
  
Swinging the keys around his finger, Ianto grinned back and turned to leave Jack to get changed. Now that was an idea for later. For now though, he had a shirt to soak.   
  
And a door to unlock.   
  
********************************   
  
He sat on the trunk and worked through the keys methodically, starting from the handcuff key and working his way through, trying one key after another. There were a lot of keys on the bunch, a variety of sizes and shapes but none seemed to quite match the door. Looking at the lock he could picture a large key, old fashioned and metal and bronzed being the right match but none of Jack's keys seemed to fit that description.    
  
But Ianto was nothing if not patient and one thing Torchwood had taught him was to never judge a book by its cover, an alien by its appearance, or a door by its lock. Instead he patiently carried on through the ring, not giving up until he had tried every one. No luck.   
  
Pushing his irritation at the mystery to the back of his mind, Ianto stood up and slid the trunk back in front of the door. Just because he couldn't get in, he had been here long enough to know that didn't necessarily mean nothing could get out. Turning the light out as he left, he slid a hand into his pocket and felt for the small notebook he carried with him. Making a note of the room number, he doodled a quick sketch of a door and hurried back up to the main chamber of the hub. It was getting late and he wanted to catch Owen before he left and remind him about that equipment order.    
  
Besides, if he could get them out of the Hub early enough tonight there might be time to test out that handcuff key again.   
  
**************************************** **************************************** **************************************** **************************************** ************   
  
It was scary how quickly the time passed sometimes. It had seemed barely yesterday that he had been recruiting Owen and Tosh and now... Jack looked out over the Hub as Gwen finally headed home, her body language screaming of the exhaustion they were all feeling, the grief and loss. He watched as Ianto gave her a hug to say goodnight and turned back to his work.    
  
They were still coming across Owen's belongings scattered across the Hub and odd pieces of tech that Tosh had been working on. Each piece was carefully bagged up and added to the rest but each time Jack had to open those boxes it was another little piece of him going back into the darkness with them.   
  
Sliding the box up off the desk, he swung it out over the room to head over to the safe. Jack swore as a pen went rolling across the desk and dropped to the floor, his foot catching it as he turned and sending it skidding across the floor and under the trio of TV sets. Jack carried on over to the vault, ignoring it until the box was safely tucked away, then looked back. The pen wasn't even visible any more so he dropped to his knees, pressing his hands flat against the floor as he bent down to look for it.   
  
“I hope that this isn't your attempt at seduction because I'm really not in the mood and you know your knees can't take the concrete for too long.”    
  
Jack looked up and smiled slightly as Ianto stood in the doorway watching him. “Still worth a try though.” Stretching out his arm under the sets, Jack felt around for the pen, his fingers finally wrapping around it but as he dragged it back he felt his palm brush against something else. “What-” Shifting his hand he flicked the pen clear before spreading his fingers wide, brushing over something cool and smooth.    
  
Following it back, he could feel something trapped between the wheels of the stand. Holding it tight, he got Ianto to pull the stand out and as the wheel ran over it it came free. “Well what have we here?” Shifting to kneel, he pulled his hand back and blew off some stray dust before opening his palm to reveal a looped keyring with half a dozen keys on it.   
  
“I told you you need to clean in here more often,” Ianto chuckled as he took the keys off Jack and flicked through them. “Looks like there's someone's car key on here. A Mini?”   
  
Jack pushed up to his feet and took the keys back off of Ianto, a look of recognition on his face. “A Mini? They must be Jane's. She had a Mini, sweet little blue one as I recall.”    
  
Ianto watched him closely, smiling slightly. “You sound like you remember the car better than the girl.”   
  
“Trust me, if you had met Jane you would remember her, she had the most amazing-” Jack quickly broke off and handed the keys over again, with an embarrassed grin. “You should probably hang on to these, she was a research and admin type, not really a field agent, she worked in your area, they might be something you need.”   
  
“My predecessor huh?” Ianto took the keys and fiddled with them, looking through the different shapes with mild interest. “I won't ask in which-” He paused as his fingers slid over a long bronze key, it's weight and shape somehow familiar to him. “She was an administrator? So she would have worked down in the archives?” Jack nodded curiously. “You know I found that strange room a few months ago. Big bronze lock, hidden behind some boxes?”   
  
“Bronze huh?” Placing his hands on his hips, Jack raised his eyebrows. “Want to go play lock and key in the archives?”   
  
**************************************** *****   
  
Jack said nothing as they pulled the trunk away from the door again, dust and muck coming off on their hands from the room as they gouged a long scratch in the floors covering of dust. “You were saying about cleaning?” he teased gently, sneezing as the dust tickled his nose. “I still don't get how we get so much dust down here anyway, its supposed to be a fairly sealed environment.”   
  
“Take it up with the builders,” Ianto joked back, standing in front of the door with the key in his hand. “And whilst you're at it, ask them why this room isn't on any of the plans.”   
  
“You know, this might just be a cupboard, or even a fake door, or-” Jack broke off as the key slid effortlessly into the lock and Ianto began to turn it. “You know what, maybe I should go first.” Ianto looked round and stopped the key just before it completed its turn, smiling slightly sadly.   
  
“Probably a good idea.” Stepping back he let Jack slide in front of him and take hold of the key, turning it the rest of the way and with a soft click the door was unlocked.   
  
“Ready to go to Narnia?” Jack joked, gripping the door handle tight and pressing down on it to release the door. Pulling it open he coughed as a soft cloud of disturbed dust came out, waving his hand in front of his face as he peered into the darkness. Groping his hand around the wall beside the doorframe he felt the soft brush of a light pull and twisted his hand to grab it, pulling down firmly as the light of a single bare bulb lit up what lay beyond the door.   
  
“By the Goddess...” Jack breathed quietly, the old half curse half prayer escaping without thought as he took in the room beyond. It was small, only a few metres across, but it was full almost to bursting with-   
  
“Mirrors?” Ianto asked curiously. He stepped forward to peer over Jack's shoulder and frowned at the sight.    
  
The walls were covered in mirrors, some with ornate frames, some just simple sheets of glass, and even more mirrors were stacked up in front of them on the floor, arranged to stand around the edges of the room and filling as much of the space as possible. There were full length mirrors, small shaving mirrors, ladies compacts, mirrors with huge art deco frames, wood and gilt and glass shining everywhere he looked. The light of the bulb was reflected hundreds of time in the small space making it look much brighter in the room. A soft layer of dust over the exposed frames dulled the effect enough to make it possible to look without having the imprint of the bulb burned onto his eye.   
  
“Mirrors,” Jack echoed, stepping hesitantly into the room and brushing his fingertips through the layer of dust on one of the large hung mirrors, staring curiously at his reflection. He looked lost in thought as Ianto stepped in after him, their reflections staring back from the mirror curiously.   
  
“I assume this isn't just someone having a mirror fetish then?”   
  
Chuckling, Jack shook his head slowly, not breaking eye contact with his reflection in the mirror, one blue eye in the clear strip where his fingers had been and the other half lost under the dust. “No. Tell me Ianto, have you ever had a favourite mirror? One that makes you look better than all the others in the house, even another mirror in the same room.”   
  
The young man thought for a moment before shrugging. “The one in my bedroom I guess, the one in my bathroom always makes my face look rounder than it is.”   
  
“I like your bedroom mirror too,” Jack said with a wink that Ianto could see in the mirror. “But have you ever looked in a mirror and for a moment something looks wrong, maybe your hair doesn't seem quite right or the room behind you looks odd.”   
  
“Sometimes. Only for a second though.”   
  
Jack brushed his fingertips through the dust once more, watching his reflection do the same, their fingers meeting on the glass. “Mirrors aren't just glass and silver. Just as they say the eyes are the window of the soul mirrors are the windows of other universes, other possibilities. Just occasionally when two similar universes brush against each other the wall becomes thin enough to see through, but only at weak points. Mirrors are those points. Most times it lasts less than a second but sometimes it gets stuck and the link stays open.”   
  
Frowning, Ianto pointed at their reflections, studying his image hard to try and spot any differences. “You're saying that isn't actually me, it's a me from... another universe?” He glanced at Jack and then spotted it, just a small difference. He had only yesterday sewn a button back on Jack's shirt, one that if he turned his head he could see sitting innocently amongst the others on his Jack. But in the mirror, a loose thread was all that there was.   
  
“Exactly. We used to come across these mirrors every now and then, there used to be a couple of firms that made them around here and something about the rift energy whilst they were being made made them something... different.” Jack looked away from his reflection for a moment and looked around the room, his own eyes looking back at him from a dozen surfaces.    
  
“Most are very subtle, just the slightest difference if there is any at all. The thing with parallel universes is that every decision can create a new universe but if that decision is so small that it doesn't affect anything else or is completely forgotten then eventually that universe will simply merge with the closest universe again with nobody even noticing.”    
  
Smiling, he shrugged carelessly. “The universe doesn't like unnecessary mess. But it's those ones, the ones that are in the process of merging with ours that are the ones that usually end up in the mirrors, like a snapshot of a possible future trapped in the glass. If the decision turned out to be major enough to cause a complete shift usually the universes will push further apart but again, the mirror would sometimes act as a link. Some that got through were just bizarre. But I thought they had destroyed all of these, or at least the worst ones.”   
  
Ianto turned and watched as Jack crouched down and began carefully to pull a stack of mirrors that were stood against the wall towards him, easing one at a time towards him in a gesture that reminded Ianto of Saturdays spent in the record shops, flicking through the albums for just the right one.   
  
“So what should we do with them?” Ianto asked, looking at the frame of a particularly decorative mirror hanging above Jack before returning his attention to his boss. “Are they dangerous?”    
  
Shaking his head, Jack looked startled for a moment before hastily flicking past a particular mirror as though wanting to hide what he had seen. “Not in the conventional sense. Although as some universes run a little faster than others there is the risk of seeing the future and that's never a good idea. But even when they run at the same time they can get a bit addictive, looking for the differences, trying to work out what you could have done to create that new world, trying to second guess yourself in this one. They're best kept locked up.” Standing up again, Jack looked a little shaken and dusted his hands off. “And forgotten.”   
  
Ianto looked around them at the mirrors and felt a slight shudder run through him at so many images of them looking back, possible timelines and futures and decisions reflected in every surface.    
  
In one he caught a flash of his black suit, even though he had chosen the grey today, in another a red tie instead of a purple one, yet another had a shadow of stubble instead of smooth skin. In another he could see a small scar on his cheek, one had longer hair, one a shorter cut; once he knew to look for the differences instead of assuming he would see what he expected he could see them everywhere. In one mirror he could not see Jack. And in another he could not see himself at all, Owen's reflection looking back in surprise from the doorway.   
  
With a shiver, Ianto grabbed Jack and kissed him fiercely, closing his eyes to the reflections around them and focusing only on the feel of Jack's body next to his, Jack's hair under his fingers, Jack's lips on his and the taste and smell and heat of him. This was what was real, this was his universe, here with Jack, now. The recent deaths had really brought home how fragile this existence was and he didn't want to know what decisions could have changed it, could take him from Jack or vice versa. He just wanted to feel, to remind himself that he was alive, and here.   
  
After a moments hesitation, surprised at the move, he felt Jack respond hungrily, his hands roaming over Ianto's back as he carefully guided them back out of the room. Ianto felt his heel knock against the trunk and stumbled for a moment before pulling back, a little embarrassed at the strength of his reaction.   
  
“You okay?” Jack asked quietly. Nodding, Ianto glanced into the room and shuddered at the faint dusty ghosts of himself staring back. Mustering a smile, he pulled Jack closer, watching their images reflected around the room, as though by the mere act of holding him close now he could somehow make sure they were together in all those reflections.   
  
“Must just be the thought of all those other Jack's watching,” he joked.   
  
Laughing, Jack reached in and wrapped his hands around the light pull, ready to turn it off. “How about we go back to yours and help make a few more universes happier places? We can even use that completely normal bedroom mirror of yours if you fancy.”   
  
Grinning back, Ianto let go of Jack and stood back, brushing himself down as he reached for the trunk, ready to slide it back into place. “Now that sounds like my sort of universe.”   
  
Focused on Ianto, Jack grinned as he began to tug on the light pull, ready to plunge the room into darkness. He didn't even see the flash of blonde hair that appeared in one of the small mirrors, not a reflection at all but a burst of static surrounding a familiar face mouthing something through the walls of reality at him. He didn't see it though and with a click it was gone along with the light.   
  
Shutting the door, Jack locked it firmly, taking the keys back and adding them to the loop in his pocket as Ianto pushed the trunk back into place. This was one room that should stay lost. He watched as Ianto reached into his pocket and pulled out a small sheet of labels, just simple red strips with the Torchwood logo on. With a click of his biro, Ianto wrote his initials and the date on the label and stuck it across the keyhole, sealing it up.   
  
Jack knew that later on in the week Ianto would write a full report on the room and cross reference it to the key that Jack would put in the vault. Placing his hands in his pockets, Jack followed Ianto out of the room but couldn't help glancing over his shoulder at the room, remembering the things he had seen in the other mirrors. He had no idea what decisions he had made or would make to have those universes come true but he just had to hope that he would make the best ones he could in this one and try not to worry about what ifs.    
  
But for now, it was time to go home and make a few new decisions of their own and let the rest of the universes sort themselves out in peace. Some things were best left unknown.   
  
All he could do was make the most of now. As someone had once told him, the best way to predict the future was to invent it. And right now he wanted to invent one that involved him, Ianto, a big bed and a mirror. The rest would take care of itself.   
  
Whether he wanted it to or not.


	2. Mirrors

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It has been far too long since he first saw this room, but he is drawn back to it like a moth to a flame, seeking peace in the reflections of worlds so far away and yet so close to his own.

Ianto Jones sighs as he makes his way through the lower levels of the archives, the keys jangling in his fingers in the still air. He is tired, so very tired, but he needs to do this, to finish the task. It had taken them months to dig down this far again, to relocate the buried corridors and levels, but now they had broken through he couldn't wait until morning to see. To know.

The room is just as he remembered, if perhaps a little dustier, and the red tape across the keyhole of the door is half faded in the dim light of his torch. The power is still far from being restored in this section, the priority being to try and relocate the body stores, but he doesn't need power for this, just enough light to see.

The door is heavy, the lock old fashioned and bronze, and the keys in his hand are labeled with a tag and a vault code. Getting them back from the vault had been a challenge in itself, but now he was here at last. A door. A lock.

A key.

Opening the door, Ianto hesitates on the threshold, the light of the torch bouncing mercilessly back at him in so many fractured shapes. It's not quite as he remembers, some of the mirrors shattered and in pieces on the floor, grey backboards breaking the glare where their contents have fallen from the frames, but there are enough intact to make it worth his while.

Stepping inside, Ianto find the largest intact mirror he can and looks into it, staring at the stranger looking back at him. Tracing a fingertip over the familiar scar on his cheek, he watches as his reflection does the same, a soft beard showing in the glass where he has smooth skin. He smiles, just a little, and watches his reflection smile back but maybe with a touch more warmth than he can manage, a hint less loneliness. Or maybe that is just wishful thinking.

The next mirror is less kind, blank, no light shining back at him, no alternate Ianto to look through the gap in the universe, and he moves swiftly on, drawn towards the flashes of light. Through some, the holder is Owen, surprise and grief on his face matching that of his long lost friend. A couple show Tosh, a tear on her face but a smile too, warm and gentle and breaking his heart. One shows Gwen, but very few are him.

He searches through them all, looking for it, a hint of what he hopes is true in even one other world. Maybe the blank mirrors are what he seeks, the absence of his reflection a sign that he is elsewhere, maybe with no reason to seek out a better choice in the dark. Maybe there the Hub was never destroyed and this room is simply locked rather than lost again.

Finally he finds one with what he seeks yet at the same time it isn't. Picking it up, Ianto sits on the dusty floor and wipes his finger across the glass, cleaning it off as he props the torch up to provide enough light to see by. Fingertips match his on the glass, a familiar face staring back at him so hungrily it hurts.

“Jack,” Ianto whispers, smiling softly and watching as Jack does the same. It's not his Jack, his Jack is still missing, still taken from him firstly by the blast that tore the Hub apart and then by the people who caused it. They would find him, somehow, but right now he just needs to see what he is fighting for, what he wants more than this life itself.

Then the Jack in the mirror shifts, just slightly, and another face appears behind him, resting his chin on Jack's shoulder. Ianto smiles and the mirror image smiles back, his own eyes there, the same scar on his cheek creasing slightly with the force of it. For a moment he can pretend that he isn't alone, that Jack is right there in front of him, just a little hard to see right now.

He can see the other Ianto mouthing something, and he's sure he sees his own name being whispered back by Jack, and smiles. Maybe this isn't another world, maybe it's a future version of this one, but somehow it doesn't matter. All that matters is that Jack, any Jack, is alive and well, he will be fine, they would be together again. Someday.

“I'll find you, somehow, I promise.”

Picking the mirror up, Ianto brushes it off carefully with the end of his tie then tucks it under his arm. Locking the door behind him again, the red warning label is pushed carefully back into place and the keys safely placed in his suit pocket.

The mirror doesn't show his Jack, but until he finds his again, it will just have to do.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This has been half finished in my dropbox for a while but I figured it was about time I got him out of the dark.

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted on Livejournal  
> http://jovialien.livejournal.com/219970.html


End file.
